Speaking of the goals of what he called the “special military operation” in Ukraine, Putin said they had yet to be achieved, because one of the aims “is de-Nazification.” For the first time, Putin expanded on what he means by that. “This means the prohibition of all kinds of neo-Nazi movements. We have to get rid of those people who maintain this concept and support this practice and try to preserve it,” he said.
Asked about when he last spoke to U.S. President Joe Biden, Putin said “I cannot remember when I talked to him,” adding that the two last spoke before the Feb. 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Carlson never mentioned former President Donald Trump by name, but Putin did. “I had such personal relationship with Trump,” he said, adding he also personally liked George W. Bush.
When asked for his thoughts on X owner Elon Musk, who Carlson said was rumored to have had a chip implanted in his brain, Putin said: “I think there’s no stopping Elon Musk. He will do as he sees fit.”
Carlson, a provocative pundit who was ousted from Fox News last year, is the first Western media figure to interview Putin since the start of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The war has killed tens of thousands of people and prompted an international arrest warrant against the Russian president for war crimes.
Carlson has repeatedly questioned the United States’ aid to Ukraine and mirrored the Kremlin’s propaganda on numerous occasions.
